Chain-making machine



Feb. 14, 192s. 1,658,924

A. HELLE ET A1.

CHAIN MAKING MACHINE Fi 1,Filed March 5, 19.22 2,v 2 She t -Sheet 1 .EDV l A TTORNEY Feb. 14, 1928.

A. HELLE ET AL CHAIN MAKING MACHINE Filed March s, 1927 2 sheets-sheet 2 A I if lla/z //Ze yIZZ /%Ze INVENTORS ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 14,1928.

f A 41,658,924.v

)UNITED 4s'rileifl's-.s'y15.1.'1ENT oFFlcE.

. ANTON HELLE lim nEnLn-or nUEfrnEN. annum..

cnam-mime MACH-INE.

@einstimmen xareh a. 1927,-seria1 No. 172,328, and in. GermanyA February, 192e.

This invention'pertains to a machine for making chain. The invention 'has for lts object to combine the adyantages o f h andformation of welded chain links... 5 with the advantages ofmechanical/ produc-'- work in the tion by power machinery, including a series of stationary lanvils and rolling d-1es. v Q p A further object is to arrange the rolling dies and their anvils in sequence, thev dies lo being mounted on a cradle-like diefcarrier.

The dies engage their anvils in sequence so that by a forward and backward movementA of the die-carrier the dies will successively .be rotated into place opposite the anvils.

Another object of the .invention is to rovide a link-forming d evlce also actuate 'by the aforesaid movement of they die-carrier,

' lwhereby at another place-in the machine, previously formed U-shaped open links can be bent together attheir ends to form. closed cha-in links.

More specifically, the first operation of the die-carrier is to take the U-shaped blank and .roll out its shank ends to approximately wedge shape, one of the beveled faces upward and the. other downward. The next operation is to bend together the ends to form closed chain links. This is done by reciprocating dies that are operatively connected to the die-carrier shaft.'

, The closed links are then subjected to a forming operation between another. die on the carrier and its stationary anvilto bring ltheir beveled faces accurately together. The

overlapping ends are welded, having been brought'toI a welding heat after the forming operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide means on the diecarrier for weld- 40 ing a transverse cross bar into the completed.

Fig. *1' is a Side View of U-shaped blank and the anvil and die for,

swaging its ends. Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the holder and the anvil.

vends ofthe blank to form a beveled Fig. 5 is a front view of the die and anvil shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 6 isa plan view of the blank as it appears after the end-beveling step.

Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are respectively slde, top

.plan and end views" of the device for bend-v ing together and overlapping tha- 1bevlgeled ose `1n Fig. 10 isa side view of the'die and anvil for forming the after beveling'and en dclosing..

Fig. 11 is a top view of the anvil shown Fig. 12 is a side view of the die and anvil for welding the beveled ends. 7| Fig. 13 is af plan view of the anvil shown in Fig, 12.

rlllig' 14 isa plan view of the finished chain 111 The machine structure will now be explained. f Upon the main frame a is an upper frame member?) having guideways d1, 032.- f

A third and lower Way da is mounted directly on the machine frame a. A cross head d slides upon' these ways andvcarries an axle i, onvwhich two toothed gear sectors e', e are(y fastened that mesh with two racks r', 'r2 on frame a.

Axle z' hasl oscillating or turning movement lin a bearing n which is slidable in guideway cl2, and cross headd is connected to a crank p by means of a connecting rod o that is actuated from any suitable source of power. e

Fixed to the axle z' is a die-carrying segment f'which carries on its periphery the dies 1, 2, 3, 4a.

A horizontal rail c .of frame a supports' the anvil members 1", 2b, 3", 4" that co-act with dies 1, 2, 3, 4* respectively.

A holder 1 for holding chain blanks is enJ arranged on the horizontal rail c in front of the first anvil 1", as shown in Fig. 1. The

horizontal rail also carries the blank Shapfing or end-closing device above referred to.

This end-closing means consists in two oppositely movable forming blanks '55 5h having beveled Work-engaging faces, as shown in Fig. 8. Adjacent the passing point of these two blanks is a blank holder 6 to support the link while its ends are being indicated by dotted lines in Fig. :AX y

The upper fdgming'blank 5*"is carried by no a rack g' slidable on the end face of horizontal rail c. A corresponding second rack g2 is also carried by the horizontal rail c. Motion in` opposite directions is imparted to the two racks by the 'common gear h1 fixed to a transverse shaft 7c which is carried in suitable bearings e secured to the mam frame a.

At the back of the machine, shaft carries a gear z,2 which meshes with a. gear sector m, capable of partial rotation about its pivot m. The-gear 71,2 has an upwardly projecting arm fn?, the free end of which is slotted to slidingl'y engage the axle i. `When the cross-head rl is given a back-and-forth movement by means of the connecting rod o and crank p, the arm m2 of the sector gear m oscillates in apvertical plane and the gear h2 and its shaft c is accordingly rotated and from gear h1 the upper and lower racks g1 and .g2 are'made to move in opposite directions. The ormng blocks 5a and 5" thereupon engage and bend together the two flat shank ends of the chain link, as shown in Fig. 6, its final form being that shown in Fig. 14.

l The operation of the machine is as folows:

A previously bent U-shaped link is placed with its curved part in holder 1, its free ends between the die 1a and anvil 1b. When crank p is set in motion toward the `left in Fig. 1 the die la is brought into action with its anvil 1b to forge down and oppositely bevel the two free shank ends of the blank, as shown in Fig. G. The blank with its beveled ends is then placed in holder 6 on the horizontal rail C of' the machine frame, the beveled ends of the blank projecting in the path of travel of 00th of the forming blanks 5 and 5b. AThese forming blanks are so arranged, as shownin Fig. 8, that when they approach each other in opposite directions,

as indicated by the arrows,-the two ShanksV of the link are made to overlap at their ends, as in Fig. 14. The initial position of the shank ends is shown in Fig. 8, and their inaleposition, after the action of orming blocks 5a and 5", is shown in Fig. 9 by dotted lines. The chain ilink thus Vformed is then placed on the stationary forming anvil 2b.

whereby the link is accurately formed, and f the operation of the next die 3, 3", it is necessaryv to heat the link to welding condition. Theheated link is then placed on stational-y anvil 3", where it is welded by the operation of die 3*. The chain link is thereby completed. 'Howeven if it is desired to add a cross bar to the link, the die 4, shown in Fig.1and its anvil I"are employed, the link and cross bar first being heated and the link then placed in position on anvil 4:, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1. The cross bars are then welded lo cach other by thc action ofthe die 4a.

Having thus described onr invention, what we claim and desire to ser-nre by Letters Patl. A chain-making machine comprising in combination a. frame hai-'ing guideway's and a cross-head slidable thereon. means for Vreciprocatingsaid cross-head, an axle carried by said cross-head and capable of partial rotation therein, a toothed gear sector xed on said axle, a. stationary toothed rack meshing with said gear sector, a die-carrying segment fixed on said axle, dies fixed to the rim of said segment, and stationary anvils arranged in a row and adapted tohbc successively engaged by said dies during the normal operation of said die-carrying segment.

Q. A chain-making machine comprising in combination a machine base having an oscillating member, adapted also to back-andforth movement on said base,rmcans for oscillaling and reciprocating said member, a series of dies on said member, a series of fixed anvils on said machineY base, said Adies and anvils adapted to be brought into operative relation as the reciprocation takes place. Y 3. A machine constructed Vas set forth in claim 2, having a. pair of oppositely movabl(` forming blocks, and block-operating means, actuated by said oscillating member.

4. A chain-making machine comprising in combination, a machine base having an axle movable transversely therein and capable ot partial rotation during said transverse movcment, means for 'imparting transverse movement to saidaxle, an oscillating member fixed to said axle, toothed gear sectors also fixed to said axle, stationary toothed racks' meshed with' said' sector-5,721 series of dies-on said oscillating member,- and a series of fixed anvils on said machine base and adapted for Yco-operation with the dies on said oscillating member.

In testimony whereof, we aix our signatures. l

ANTON HELLE. FRITZ BELLE. 

